When Harry Met Sally...:A Quick Review

Most romantic comedies are horrible, predictable and should never be watched by a human being, ever, except as a form of torture.  "When Harry Met Sally..." is a wonderful exception to the aforementioned rule.  It came out in 1989 and was directed by Rob Reiner, who in case anyone was wondering is a very good director.  It stars Billy Crystal as Harry Burns and Meg Ryan as Sally Albright.  They meet in college in 1977 and drive to New York City together because they are both moving there.  Along the way Harry tells Sally that men and women can never be friends because sex is always involved.  Of course this statement is so ridiculous that I won't comment on it any further because thinking too much about it could get me in a bad mood.  However, that warped philosophy is the main theme of this entire movie.  Twelve years go by and their relationship changes.  She breaks up with her boyfriend and He gets divorced and they actually become friends after being completely turned off by each other previously.  This of course leads into more than just friendship.  And they learn valuable life lessons along the way and discover wonderful things about their feelings for each other and what have you.  Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan had great chemistry in this movie and were also given a great script by Nora Ephron, who would four years later write and direct one of the most ridiculously plotted movies ever..."Sleepless in Seatle"...not a huge fan.  Well anyways, "When Harry Met Sally..." is just really smartly written and has some witty dialogue which is nice, especially in such a cliched and awful genre.  Oh and by the way, Meg Ryan gets to fake an orgasm in a diner in a hilarious scene that is now considered classic.  And is followed by the great classic line, "I'll have what she's having."  So anyways I really enjoyed this movie.  The script was intelligent and the two leads played off each other great.  I normally hate romantic comedies, but in my opinion this is one of the best and my personal favorite.  If you like anyone involved with the making of this movie, then give it a try you'll probably find some level of enjoyment,

-Joseph Sbrilli

The Shawshank Redemption: A Quick Review

"The Shawshank Redemption" was directed by Frank Darabont and released in 1994.  It was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, but won absolutely nothing because 1994 was "Forrest Gump"'s year and that won everything possible, just about.  "The Shawshank Redemption" also was a complete box office flop.  We learn from this that box office success or lack thereof does not have any correlation with the quality of a film.  "The Shawshank Redemption" is one of the greatest American films.  It is practically flawless.  Any possible flaws that exist are completely overshadowed by everything that is amazing about the movie.  It stars Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins...two exceptionally great actors.  Morgan Freeman is my personally favorite of all time...as far as living actors go...just a fun fact.  They are both in the Shawshank prison.  Morgan Freeman plays Red, who gets there about a decade before Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins). Both are in for murder, only Andy did not kill his wife and her lover as the court ruled.  Red and Andy become best friends and the chemistry between the two actors is fantastic and the interaction and dialogue just work so well.  Andy is determined to escape from the prison and spends a good couple decades of life doing so...the movie covers the span of several years which was done very nicely, including a picture of a different pin-up girl on Andy's cell wall for each decade that had gone by.  The acting in this movie is great...even by those who are not the two leads.  The storyline is compelling, interesting, and perfectly paced.  Every scene has a purpose and it never feels dragged out.  The cinematography is beautiful, with some great shots of the prison from varying views and just, visually great camera work everywhere in the movie.  "The Shawshank Redemption" is essentially a perfect movie.  If you haven't seen it yet, then by all means go out and buy it because one viewing of this modern classic simply is not enough.  It takes time to soak in just how great it is.  Plus, who doesn't love a great Morgan Freeman movie?

-Joseph Sbrilli

The Jerk: A Quick Review

"The Jerk" is one of the best comedies to come out of Hollywood.  True, this is my opinion.  However, the American Film Institute agrees and they are paid to have good taste in movies.  "The Jerk," released in 1979 and directed by Carl Reiner, was Steve Martin's first starring film role.  He plays Navin Johnson, who "was born a poor black child."  That's just the beginning of this hilarious fish out of water story.  Navin is a adopted by a black family and when he get older he decides that it's time to leave and go out on his own.  This leads him to a gas station job which soon leads to him inventing a device to keep eye glasses from falling off.  Of course this makes him extremely wealthy and he starts living in the lap of luxury.  Obviously that doesn't last long, because that would not be very funny.  Somewhere in between he falls in love with Marie Johnson, played by Bernadette Peters. Back in 1979, Steve Martin, already completely gray at this time, because he might have been born like that, was actually funny.  Then three decades pass and he does ridiculously horrible movies that aren't even worth mentioning, but I know that you know what they are.  He was perfect as Navin Johnson and had some chemistry with Bernadette Peters.  Carl Reiner, himself also shows up for a hilarious cameo.  Overall, the movie is just very funny, with a great lead performance by Steve Martin and a solid script. Whether you like it or not this movie is a classic and will not be forgotten.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Robin Hood

Robin Hood, the dashing, longbow wielding, lady wooing outlaw running around the countryside of England causing mayhem for the established monarchy by attempting to institute his socialist agenda. Or is that reading into it too much?

Everyone was really excited about Robin Hood because its the latest in Ridley Scott and Russel Crowes lovefest. I was super excited to because the have great movies under their belts (American Gangster, Gladiator), but Robin Hood fails on every level that those movies succeeded.

Considering that my knowledge of Robin Hood folklore consists of exactly two movies: Mel Brooks' hilarious Men in Tights and Disney's animated Robin Hood (one of my favorites), I can't really comment on the historical accuracy but as far as I've heard, Scott created his own prequel to the story most of us know and love. Robin Longstride (Crowe) is a common archer in King Richards returning crusaders, who are doing their very best to burn the French countryside on the way back to England. King Richard dies, and Robin and a couple of his men swear to never be owned by a man again and ditch the army. They return to England and because of some promise Robin made, visits Maid Marion's (Cate Blanchett) house and swears to her father that he'll pretend to marry her because of tax reasons, and essentially becomes owned by another man. The IRS would not be happy. Then there's some other side plots, the new king is a total jerk (INTERESTING FACT: King John was a real king and he was so bad that England hasn't had a king john since.) and his best friend Godfrey (Mark Strong) is a traitor and is running around the countryside with the French killing englishmen and then the French invade and then I slowly choke to death on all the twisting plot threads that have wrapped themselves around my neck. Oh and somehow the Magna Carta is tied into Robin Hood and god it is just so confusing. Not to mention cheesy. The end battle against the French army has so much cheese everywhere that I thought Robin was fighting the swiss.

Robin Hood has so many different things going on, it can feel longer than Avatar. Throughout the movie Robin isn't even called Robin Hood. His name is Robin Longstride and then Robin of Loxley and there is a brief reference to the hood part. I can't get over at how poorly done this is. It is just like Body of Lie, a chicken running around with its head cut off. Except with no blood coming out because they rated it pg-13, what is up with that Ridley? All your great movies have been rated R. Step up your game.

Anyways, that chicken I referenced is still an extremely good looking chicken. Very pretty shots of battle scenes and enough arrows flying through the air that no one really noticed when they got hit. All of the actors are incredibly talented, but that's no surprise. It would be a surprise if they acted badly, then I'd be very mad.

In the end, Robin is declared an outlaw and lives in the woods with all his merry men and starts up the whole steal from the rich and give to the poor deal. The audience goes yes! finally! and then the movie ends. Go watch the Disney version again and enjoy some good old fashioned good against evil tales.

2 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans: A Quick Review

"Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," directed by Werner Herzog, was released last year.  It stars Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, and Val Kilmer.  Nicolas Cage plays Terence McDonagh, the bad lieutenant of the title...yep I kid you not.  Eva Mendes is Frankie, his prostitute girlfriend...again I kid you not.  And Val Kilmer is the drastically underused police partner, Stevie Pruit. Terence McDonagh, a poliee officer with a severe drug addiction, among other things is put on a case surrounding the horrible murders of six illegal immigrants.  The way he goes about this of course is anything put normal because I guess McDonagh just breaks all the rules.  I thought that the idea of the film was good, but several things went wrong in the final product.  I am pretty indifferent to Nicolas Cage, sometimes I like him, like in "Moonstruck" or "Raising Arizona."  Then other times I'm watching "Face/Off" and he's annoying, and not John Travolta.  I didn't feel like he was convincing in his role as Terrence McDonagh.  Several times throughout it was hard to take him seriously.  Maybe this was his fault or maybe it was the scriptwriter's, I'm sure.  The script was weak too.  The end was rushed, lots of things were not explained well so I was confused like 20 times during the movie.  I know confusing me is not hard...but in my defense the script for this one was legitimately confusing and there was just some awful dialogue thrown in every so often.  The score also was not memorable, like it should be in a good movie.  It added little and at times it's not really noticeable at all.  Also, there were some pointless shots and scenes of random reptiles.  Rumor has it it was because of some drug trip but I'm not sure about that.  Eva Mendes was good in this, but she just wasn't used enough and her character, along with others were not developed.  Although no one was used less than Val Kilmer, who literally says a handful of lines towards the beginning, you don't see him for an hour and a half, and then he shows up in the end.  At least the movie didn't drag on at all...that wouldn't have ended well.  So yeah I was disappointed by various aspects of this movie. However, it got great reviews....86% at RottenTomatoes...so I'm not sure how that worked...I must have missed several things while watching...or the critics just lied...again I'm not quite sure.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Iron Man: A Quick Review

I figured that since "Iron Man 2" just came out and Mr. Chris O'Connell reviewed that, I would quick review "Iron Man." I watched it again yesterday before I saw "Iron Man 2," in hopes that the story would be fresh in my mind.  It kind of was, but I'm also senile and have no attention span...don't judge me.  I had the pleasure of seeing "Iron Man" in theaters about two years ago on the smallest screen in the smallest theater at Regal Cinemas.  I guess that's what happens when I wait 2 months before seeing a really popular movie in theaters.  So yeah there will be a lot of be rambling in this review, but that's fun for me so I will continue to do it. Anyways, "Iron Man" was directed by Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey Jr. in the career rejuvenating role of Tony Stark/Iron Man.  He is joined by Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, and Jeff Bridges. Tony Stark runs Stark Industries.  They make military weapons.  While in Afghanistan Tony Stark gets severely wounded.  The only thing keeping shrapnel from getting to his heart, thus killing him is an electromagnet that is now in his chest...From there he makes a suit out of some scrap mental, because at this point he is still in Afghanistan and is being held captive.  After he gets back to the US, he decides it would probably be a good idea if he became a superhero.  He gets a better suit and Iron Man is born, fighting evil where ever it may be.  Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's assistant.  Terrence Howard plays Stark's friend, Colonel James Rhodes and Jeff Bridges is Tony Stark's late father's business partner, Obadiah Stane.  I had actually never heard of "Iron Man" before seeing this movie.  I thought it was a great movie and I really enjoyed it.  Robert Downey Jr. was apparently meant to play Tony Stark.  It's just one of those things.  The rest of the cast is great and I always enjoy seeing Jeff Bridges.  There is a great mix of action and comedy, with some great one-liners delivered by Robert Downey Jr. Also, the special effects are impessive, which is always a plus.  It's amazing how horrible special effects seem to be running rampant in Hollywood.  So basically, not as good as "The Dark Knight," but still a great comic book/action movie that I highly recommend.  And always stay for the credits (in any movie that you watch, but especially this one).  Samuel L. Jackson shows up as Nick Fury in a fun segue-way for "Iron Man 2."  And while watching "Iron Man," be glad that Scarlett Johansson didn't show up.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Iron Man 2

With great power comes great responsibility. Wait, wrong film. With great power comes a huge ego. That's more like it. Everyones favorite bad guy stomping, lady seducing, brilliant one lining superhero is back for his second adventure.

Iron Man 2 picks up pretty closely where Iron Man left off. Tony Stark has admitted that he is Iron Man and has spent the last few months helping to rid the world of bad guys and generally being ridiculously good looking. His world seems to be great but we soon learn that Tony Stark is slowly being killed by the thing that defines him. His increased use of the iron man suit is acelerating the deadly shrapnels poison inside him that he picked up in the first film. Couple that, essentially a death sentence, with the US government trying to get him to hand over the iron man "weapon," rival weapons contractor Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) trying to show him up, and a crazed Russian physicist (Mickey Rourke) who blames the Stark family for the death of his father.

With a cast as talented as everyone in Iron Man 2 it is very hard to go wrong. You've got Robert Downey Jr. one of the greatest actors in the history of ever, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle taking over Terrence Howards old part (just as well, if not better), Samuel L. Jackson, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell.

First off, Robert Downey Jr. is an amazing man. His performance alone brings this movie up a notch that it just wouldn't have without him. He knows who hes playing and he loves it. His lines had everyone in the theatre laughing. Everyone else plays their roles as well as you'd expect actors of their caliber to do, but Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell are worthy of note. Mickey Rourke just gets sucked into his part. A mad Russian scientist with electric death whips that cut clean through vehicles and almost iron man's suit. Half the time I found myself rooting for him because of his acting and general awesomeness. Many people might play off Sam Rockwell's role, but his range is brilliant. He plays a quirky weapons genius, like Stark, who has very little people skills. Like Joaquin Pheonix in Gladiator he makes you hate him and that's what is so great about it.

Now that I've run my marathon love obsession with the actors, I think I should discuss the film. Iron Man 2 can feel a little long and then a little short at times. The special effects in the film are absolutely amazing (Especially when Mickey Rourke starts chopping cars in half) and then sometimes they feel a little dull. It suprises me at every corner and then takes a detour in the wrong direction and I couldn't tell it to turn around. Also, the very last fight with the final bad guy, was way too easy. Tony and Rhodes (Cheadle, the silver suit) take out the final boss in like 5 minutes. Don't build him up so much if he's that easy to kill.

Don't get me wrong Iron Man 2 is a good movie, but it just falls a little short. If you took The Dark Knight, a GREAT movie, and took out the Joker it would no longer be great, it would just be a good movie. That's what Iron Man 2 is. It lacks something that Iron Man had and tries to make up for it with bigger fight scenes and more graphics.

Iron Man 2 is still incredibly entertaining and definitely worth the admission price. Then again, I would see any movie just to watch Robert Downey Jr.

3 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell